Year of the Ox: Hatsuharu Sohma x Reader
by Pulcinella
Summary: Left just as it was finished a year ago; no editing has been done since! Compare to my current fanfics to see how far I've gone.


_Year of the Ox; Hatsuharu Sohma x You Fanfic_

There he is. That white-haired freshman. He's in your class, 1d. All the girls in your high school are talking about how hot he is, and you didn't necessarily disagree with them. He was talking to some sophomore, a gray-haired sophomore, what was his name? Yuki? Yuki Sohma? Yeah, that was it. Well, whoever he was, he wasn't the one you were looking at. It was that freshman. You've been staring at him all day, but, well, what girl in their right mind wouldn't be? Obviously most of the girls around you weren't in their right mind, because they were squealing over Yuki. Calling him a "prince". Prince Charming, huh? Seemed like that could be used against him. The freshman, Hatsu... Hatsuharu Sohma, was it? Seemed about right. But anyway, he was smiling, a shy smile, a bit of blush. Blush? You've never seen a bad boy like Hatsuharu blush before.

"Wait a minute, Sohma?" You thought, "Are Prince Charming and Hatsuharu related, somehow? Maybe they're distant cousins. They don't look too much alike." It was a valid thought, there weren't that many Sohma families in that part of Japan. Come to think of it, you had seen two other Sohma boys around the school- Kyo and Momiji. Carrot Top and Blondie, according to their hair. Momiji was in your class, but Kyo was a sophomore, like Yuki. Speaking of, he decided that he needed to get to class rather than talk to Hatsuharu, so he walked away from the conversation. Of course, all the girls stuck to him like flies on flypaper, so Haru -if you could call him that- was free to look wherever he wanted. And that happened to be at you. He turned his head in your direction, and your eyes cast downward.

"I can't believe that he knew I was watching him the entire time. I wonder how long it was, maybe ten minutes?" You were obviously embarrassed, but Haru's attention was captured when Carrot Top, more commonly known as Kyo Sohma, approached him. You couldn't hear what they were talking about, but you were pretty sure Kyo was challenging Hatsuharu to a fight, because Haru then delivered a swift kick to the side of Kyo's orange head. Carrot Top lay on the ground a while, before getting up. He was just about to kick back, before a teacher walking down the hallway spotted them, and told them to go to class. Kyo did as he was told, but Haru stayed, leaving you alone... with him.

He looked at you again, and ran his fingers through his unusually white hair. The color was strange, but it gave him the bad boy look that you defiantly liked. Especially with the black roots, it made it seem like dye. But, somehow, he proved to the student council president that it was his natural hair color, so you believed it. Nothing could persuade President Takei, nothing except the truth. You took a step forward, and another, and another, until you were in front of him. He stopped, and stiffened. You held out your hand, and he looked at it a bit before taking it with his own.

"Hatsuharu Sohma. You can just call me Haru." You paused, almost forgetting to say your own name. His voice was just so...

"Oh, right, um, I'm Kazumi Sakura." You took a short little bow, as a greeting. He smiled a little tiny bit, just a smirk, but it made you feel warm inside. What you didn't realize was that you were still grasping his hand. He tried to pull away, but you were subconsciously holding it in a death grip. You looked down, and immediately let go. "Sorry." The school bell rang, and only now did you notice that you two were truly alone, standing in the hallway. "So, uh, bye." You seemed to have completely forgotten at that point that you were both in the same class, so you were very surprised when he started following you. Then it hit you like a train. You were just holding his hand.

You walked in the classroom together, and the room was silent. Everyone was staring. It was kind of awkward, even Sensei was looking at you two. And then, your classmates burst into laughter. Haru's face reddened, as did yours. Momiji, the little blond boy, came bounding over to you.

"Haru, do you have a new girlfriend? 'Cause I think you do!" The Sohma didn't really seem all that smart, and defiantly not mature, so you let it go.

"Shut up, Momiji, you know who I like." Haru's voice seemed a little deeper, and a little more trying.

"Oh, right, you like Y-" Momiji started, but before he could finish, Hatsuharu clamped a hand over Blondie's mouth.

"What did I say, little runt? Shut the hell up, you damn rabbit. Or do you want me to really go black on you?" Momiji shook his head no, and scampered back to his seat. You figured that it would be best if you just left that situation, so you were already in your desk when Haru sat down... Right next to you.

How could you have forgotten that he sat next to you? With all the excitement, it must've slipped your mind somehow. He promptly leaned back in his chair upon sitting, which didn't go over well with Sensei.

"Sohma!" Both boys looked up. "Put your chair down!" It was apparent to Momiji at that point that Sensei was talking to Haru, so he turned his attention back to the blackboard. Hatsuharu rolled his eyes, and reluctantly did as he was told. Defiantly a bad boy. Just your type.

You stole a glance at Haru a few times, and saw him fiddling with his ear piercings, not even bothering to take notes. You then looked down at your own notes, and saw that they, too, were nonexistent, having been replaced by a doodle. You studied it for a bit, and decided it was a human. You were a pretty terrible artist, so it was hard to tell at first. A human, with your high school's male uniform, necklaces and... piercings, and... white... hair... with black... roots.

You tore the page out of your notebook, and crumpled the drawing up. You stood, and walked over to the trash can. You tossed it in, only to be joined by none other than Momiji. He dug around in the trash, and pulled out the crumpled up paper. He looked at it for a bit, and then understood the drawing.

"Oh, it's H-" Before Blondie could even think about finishing that sentence, you shoved him to the tile, and he began to cry. At this point, everybody's attention was directed to you, even Haru's, and the room was silent. Then, there came a laugh, Haru's laugh. He was laughing meanly, directed at Momiji.

"That's what you get for being so damn nosy, stupid little bunny rabbit. I bet next time you'll think before getting into other people's business." Momiji was still on the floor, although his crying seemed to have stopped. He began to stand up.

"Now you're being mean, Haru. I thought you were supposed to be a nice cow, not a mean bull." Momiji dusted himself off, and began walking back to his seat, but he didn't get halfway there before Haru was in front of him.

"You're really starting to piss me off, you know that? You never really do shut up like people tell you. Ya know, I might as well give you something to actually cry about," Haru snapped, and delivered a sharp uppercut, knocking Momiji up, then down again, so he was on the floor once more, this time on his back. Sensei set down his chalk. Obviously, he wasn't going to teach math as long as the Sohma boys were in his class. Speaking of Sohma boys, the door opened, and the first thing you saw was gray hair.

"Geez, Prince Charming, because that's exactly who we were missing." He looked at Haru, then Momiji. Blondie was bawling bloody murder, being tended to by Sensei. Haru seemed to calm down when he saw Yuki, so at least that was good.

"Haru, Kisa's here to see you." Hatsuharu seemed really surprised, and looked at Prince Charming like he was crazy. He ended up shrugging it off, and following Yuki out the door, but not before stepping on Momiji on the way out. You swore Blondie squeaked.

He wasn't there the rest of the day. You looked around at each and every of the classes you shared with Haru, and you couldn't find him. The other Sohmas were milling around the school, minding their own business. You almost bumped into Carrot Top walking to the cafeteria, but he quickly pushed you aside.

Later, you were walking home from school with two of your friends. You were very confused, but while you were thinking about Haru, your best friends chattered about Yuki.

"Who's Kisa?" You wondered, "And why did they want to see Haru? Why didn't he come back? He seemed pretty surprised. Maybe Kisa goes to a different school, or something." As confused as you were, it took but one word to snap you back to reality. It wasn't the word, really, but the voice.

"Kazumi!" You swiveled around to face the voice, even though you already know who it was. Hatsuharu ran towards you, carefully avoiding bumping into your friends.

"H-Haru? What are you doing here?" You were even more surprised that he was following you than you were about 'Kisa'.

"I hope I got your name right. I'm not too good with names." He stood before you, panting a little. He must've run all the way from his house to catch up with you.

"Yeah, you got it. Kazumi Sakura," you said with a slight smile. He looked at you a bit, you could tell he was thinking.

"Beautiful Cherry Blossom." He said, translating your name. He grabbed your cheeks, and brought your head up, almost a kiss, before letting it go. "You sure do live up to your name."

All your friends ooh'd and aah'd. They'd forgotten about Yuki pretty quick. Haru was walking away, hands in his pockets. You'd been watching him, and your friends've been watching you.

"Wow, Kazumi, you scored a hottie this time," one of your friends piped up.

"Yeah, I heard somewhere that he's related to Prince Yuki!" Once again, the squealing over Prince Charming was started up, and you were left with your own thoughts.

"About homeroom... Why does Haru keep calling Momiji 'rabbit boy'? And then Blondie called Haru a cow, then a bull? Come to think of it, I've heard Yuki and Kyo call each other animal names. 'Rat' doesn't seem too much of a stretch, I'm pretty sure they hate each other, but 'Cat'? That makes no sense!"

You arrived home, and your friends kept on walking, going over to their houses. You walked in the door, trying to make as little sound as possible. Your mother slept during the day, and you didn't want to wake her up. You did your homework and ate a snack, and then played some video games. Your thoughts were full of the white-haired freshman, though, so it became hard to focus on the game. You ordered pizza for dinner, and went to bed at 10:00, passing your mom.

"Hey, Kazumi. What's for breakfast?" You laughed a little.

"Well, good morning, Sleeping Beauty. Leftover pizza tonight." Mom smiled a bit, and got a cup of coffee.

The next day, you arrived in first hour early. You sat down in your seat, and Sensei looked at you. He erased the board from seventh hour the day before and came up to you.

"Something wrong, Ms. Sakura?" You looked up, and shook your head no. "Why are you early? Did you want to get in extra study time?" You shook again, and Sensei rolled his eyes. "Then wait out by the busses."

You did as you were told, and as you waited, a bicycle caught your attention. And who could it be riding it but Haru. He came into your view wearing motorcycle gear, even though he only had a bike, and you chuckled.

"Oh, hey, Kazumi," he greeted you as he dismounted and began locking up his bike. Your heart skipped a beat. He just said hi to you, without even hesitating.

"Uh, um, hi, uh, Haru." You took another short bow, like when you had first met him. He laughed a little, and finished locking his bike.

"You know, you don't have to bow every time you see me." He smiled a small smirk, and started walking inside. You followed.

At lunch that day, he sat at your table, not necessarily near you, just at your table. Yuki was next to him, a brunette on the other side. What was her name? Tohru Honda? She was a sophomore, like Prince Charming and Carrot Top. Anyway, you overheard Haru talking about Kisa. Who was Kisa, anyway.

"She just wanted to know if I'm coming to the New Years Banquet. It's Year of the Ox again." Yuki giggled at Hatsuharu's sentence, but you didn't know why.

"Haru, you do realize that if you go, you're going to have to do the dance... With the traditional robes." By this point, Prince Charming was howling with laughter, and Haru's face was bright red.

"That- that's why I told Kisa I wanted to skip out. She was sad because me and her were supposed to do the dance together, but, like I'm gonna wear that." You didn't necessarily understand what they were talking about, but you figured it must be some family thing.

"Didn't you blow it off last year?" Yuki seemed do be done laughing now, but his face was still flushed.

"Yeah, but I had to dance then too. And you skipped out on it, too. Figures." Haru finished his lunch and stood up to take care of the tray.

"Haru... You didn't go black, did you? Your tone..." Tohru Honda piped up, a shy, yet exceedingly kind voice.

The freshman stopped and looked at Tohru. "Not really. I've been feeling pretty black lately, though. Huh, maybe it's New Years." He walked off, and your eyes followed him, as did many girls'.

That afternoon, you were beginning to walk home again, this time alone, when a flash of red, black, and white caught your attention. He stopped up ahead, and you got a good look at Haru's bike for the first time. It was a brick red, seemed pretty expensive. He dismounted and began walking towards you.

"Kazumi. You remind me of someone... Special." He stood in front of you now, smiling a little. "A distant cousin of mine... Rin. Rin Sohma. The long, black hair... When I first saw you, I thought of her." It was true. Your jet-black hair was pulled back into a ponytail on this particular day, but you usually wore it long, so it fell near your waistline.

"R- Rin? Who's Rin? It's gotta be a friend of his." Once again, your mind was whirling with thought. "He called her 'someone special'... Could this Rin be his girlfriend?" You shook your head, clearing the thought from your mind. You didn't want to think that Haru could have a girlfriend. Looking at him, though, you could tell that it was most defiantly a possibility.

He looked at you in return, his gray eyes meeting your brown. You could feel a chill go down your spine, though, and you weren't quite sure why. He smiled at you again, and slowly turned around to walk away.

"W-wait, Hatsuharu..." You tried to follow him, but instead you tripped over your own feet and fell into him. There was a big poof, almost an explosion.

"Wh- What was that?" You tried to stand up, but your leg was hurt. "Haru?! Where'd you go?!" You looked around, and saw only a cloud of dust. It began to clear, though, and standing there was a cow. "A cow? Where the hell did that come from?"

The cow rolled its eyes, you didn't even know cows could do that. "I'm not a cow, really." The voice came across as Haru's, which caused you to look at it a bit more seriously. "I'm Haru. It's a long story." He nosed his muzzle under you so you ended up on his back. He then reached down and grabbed clothes that you hadn't seen. His school uniform. "Grab my bike when I pass it, ok?" You nodded, and tried to gather your thoughts.

"What the hell just happened?" You did as you were told, taking hold of the handlebars as they became accessible, but you couldn't help wondering if you were imagining all this. "Did Haru just turn into a cow? The pain is real, but it all feels like a dream, otherwise."

"Hey, Kazumi. Where's your house?" Haru pointed his nose up in order to look at you, and you saw that even as a cow, his eyes were the eerie gray they always were.

"Oh, uh, go down this block and take a right. It'll be the one with the blue roof." You snapped out of your thought world to answer the question, not even really realizing that this was really happening. "My mom has a night job, so she'll be asleep, and my dad... My dad... Won't be home..." Haru nodded.

"That's goo-" The cow stiffened, and looked at you. "Hold onto my neck."

"What?"

"Just do it. It'll be a potential disaster if you don't." He seemed pretty serious, so you did so, wrapping your arms around his neck. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks. You must be pretty confused right now. I'll tell you the whole thing once we get to your house. I'm pretty sure Akito won't be happy with you knowing, none the less the entire public." You nodded, still perplexed.

You reached your house, and he struggled to open the door. He finally got it, though, and trotted you inside. Once you were able, you rolled off his back and onto the soft couch below. He stiffened again, and ran around the living room a bit, in a sort of equine panic.

"Where's the bathroom?" You pointed, not bothering to raise your head. He smiled, and ran in the direction you indicated.

He came back a few minutes later as a human again, and sat down next to your laid out form, right by your head.

"Thanks. Hey, I should tell you about the whole cow thing, now that nobody can overhear. My family, the Sohmas, have a curse set on them. When we're hugged by a member of the opposite sex or our bodies are under stress, we transform into the 12 animals of the zodiac, plus the cat. I'm the ox, Yuki's the rat, Kyo's the cat, and Momiji is the rabbit. There's more, of course, Kagura the boar, Kisa the tiger, Rin the horse, people like that, but I don't think you've met them. Kagura's three years older than us, Kisa three years younger, and Rin... Rin's... Well..." He stopped talking and put his head in his hands. "Nevermind," you heard him mumble. He brought up his head again, and looked at you. "Got anything to eat?" You laughed a little, and shifted your eyes to his. Although the lack of color was still a bit jarring, they seemed kind and gentle now.

"Yeah, there's some rice in the fridge." He smiled again, and began to stand up. He popped his neck, and put his feet on the ground, but as he stood, you reached out to grab his ankle.

"Wait, Haru." He stumbled forward, and regained his balance shortly afterward. He looked down at you, and you showed him a warm smile. "I'll get it."

You both sat on the couch together, eating rice and talking about school. Nothing special, making fun of teachers, sharing laughs, that kind of thing. But, somehow, it felt strange to you. You had dated a lot of boys in your day, but he seemed... Special somehow.

"So, uh, Kazumi... Akito, the head of the family, he's probably wanting me back... He's pretty strict... If I don't get to the main house by dinner, there could be punishment." You looked up at him, and he stared strait ahead. He began to stand up again, and you stood as well.

"But, Haru..." You moved in front of him, and he almost fell backwards to avoid bumping into you again. You blushed a little, and continued talking. "Haru... Today... Was special..." He looked at you, surprised, but his eyes softened, and his shoulders relaxed.

"Th- thank you... Nobody has ever... Been that kind... To me." A small, shy smile slowly crept across his lips, and he almost hesitated to do what he did next. He reached his hand around the back of your head and stroked your hair. He then pulled you in and kissed you. Your eyes said it all; surprise, then love, finally, they were closed, and you too had your hand on the back of his head. You both pulled away at the same time, and as your eyes met his, you looked downward, blushing.

"Well, uh, you, uh, you gotta go... Right?" He nodded and walked towards the door. Just as he was about to step outside, he turned and raised a hand to you as a goodbye gesture. You weren't quite sure what to do next, so you just stood there as he walked away, not bothering to close the door. Oh, what the hell. It was a nice day anyway.

The next day, you stood in front of the school, waiting, usually you would just start walking, but today Haru told you to meet him outside. The wind blew your long hair in your face, but you didn't care. Finally he came around the other side of the school, holding a paper in one hand.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to print out a map." He waved the paper when he mentioned it. "I have a terrible sense of direction, it's kind of a well-known fact in the family." You had started walking now, Haru studying the map and leading the way. You had no idea where you were going, so you asked. "Oh, uh, the main house. Akito wanted to talk to you."

"Akito, isn't he the head of the Sohma family? Why does he want to talk to me? Oh, right, the zodiac thing. Well, he can't be that bad, can he?" As you walked, you kept looking and looking at Haru. You couldn't stop thinking about yesterday. He just payed attention to the map, too much attention. He ended up face-in-tree.

"A-are you ok, Haru?" He nodded, and mumbled into the wood.

"I thnk I'll sty hr fr a bt." You laughed, and sat next to him. You picked up the map he dropped, and looked at it. You studied it for a while. It seemed a bit strange to you, until you realized he was reading wrong.

"Haru, the map was upside down."

"Great." He was fine now, and he reached down to help you up. You grasped his outstretched hand, and subconsciously stood up yourself, at the same time he pulled. You almost fell into him again, but this time, he took a step back to steady himself. Your faces were close again, and you blushed.

"Well, uh, how about I navigate this time?" He nodded, and you began saying directions. Eventually, you stood in front of a large metal gate. He took a key out of his pocket and it swung open to reveal a beautiful scene. A forest, a mountain, even a hot spring, and houses scattered around, a large one in the middle, you figured it was the main house.

"Wow, it's like its own little world!" Haru nodded and smiled, walking forward as you trailed. You stepped into the main house together, and walked down one of the long corridors side by side.

"Kazumi..." He started, after a long silence, "Akito... He's very strict... I'm not sure if he'll allow you to keep your memories. There's only one outsider that knows the secret of the Sohma family curse, a sophomore, Tohru Honda. If he knew that you know, I'm not sure what he'll do. Last time someone told him he loved someone outside of the family, he went ballistic and blinded his left eye, erasing the outsider's memories. Hatori... The dragon." You looked up at him, and he just stared strait ahead.

"Haru..."

"Now, where is Akito's room? I'm sure it's around here somewhere." You chuckled, obviously his sense of direction was terrible.

"Haru, you didn't tell Akito... About yesterday... Did you?" His eyes met yours as he looked down at you.

"Of course. I didn't really have any other choice. He actually took it pretty well. Just said, 'Oh, I'd like to see her, tomorrow. Bring her to the main house.'" He made up a false, almost depressed-sounding voice to imitate Akito, and although you hadn't met the head of the family yet, it still caused you to smile. Your grin began to fade, though, as you thought a less pleasant thought.

"Haru, what if he hurts you... Or erases my memories?" Your brown eyes began to water, and he wiped it away.

"Don't worry." He stared ahead again, and you continued to look at him. It really did feel like a dream.

"What do you mean, 'sorry'? This is like Kana and Hatori all over again. Go away, stupid girl, the Sohmas don't need you!" Akito was shouting at you, but it felt more like it was directed at Haru as well. "Tohru Honda was the one exception, I'm not making any more. Either you be kind to Hatori over there as he graciously erases all your memories of the Sohma family curse, or one of you will not make it out of this house unharmed. Take your pick." The family head snarled that last sentence, and you were crying. Haru looked sad at first, then he started gritting his teeth, and the next thing you know, he was knocking Akito through the roof.

"You know Akito, you're a real bastard. Going off like you rule the world. It's really starting to piss me off!" He hook-punched the head of the family as soon as he got up again, and you began to stop crying. "It's about time somebody taught you a lesson! Hatori, get your ass over here and help me." The dragon looked up, and shook his head.

"Hatsuharu, you don't know what you're getting yourself into. Akito's actually way stronger than you think. I know you're just trying to defend your honor, but... I won't do that if I were you."

"Oh, shut the hell up. Who even asked you, anyway, stupid seahorse." Akito stood again, but before he could even do anything, he was greeted by an abrupt kick to the nose. He fell back again, a stream of blood following, but he just didn't seem affected.

"Y-you're right." This came as Akito's voice, strong and mature, yet soft and gentle, almost like Yuki's. "I do deserve this. Only now did I realize that I had been treating this family like insects, squashing whichever ones I pleased, whenever I wanted. How shameful of me." This attracted the full attention of you, Hatori, and Haru, and you all stopped whatever you were doing to look at him, laying on the floor, beaten bloody.

"Akito..." Hatori started, but nothing followed.

"Hatori. I have done nothing but make your life miserable, haven't I? Blinded your left eye, made the love of your life leave, scarred you emotionally for the rest of your life. I can't even list all of the members of this family I have hurt, both physically and verbally. Yuki, Kisa, Rin... The list goes on... I do not wish to add another to that list... Hatsuharu... You can... You can marry Ms. Sakura if you want to."

"M-marry?!" You took a step back in shock. Haru nodded, and turned to you.

"I know it isn't official, but, uh, Kazumi, you see, I've always loved you... And... Will you marry me?" It was sudden, but your speech came out just as you wanted it to.

"Yes!" You leaned forward, and hugged Haru, not even thinking. There was the all-too-familiar poof, and you landed on the floor. Hard. Hard enough to... Wake you up?

"Wh-where am I?" You looked around, you appeared to be in your own bed, just having woken up. You slowly gathered your senses and decided it was a dream. "Been watching too much TV..."

"Kazumi." You looked up, and Haru stood in your doorway. "C'mon, we're gonna be late for school." You nodded, and got up. You passed him on the way to the kitchen for breakfast, and he kissed your cheek.

"Love you, babe."

**Author's Note (Current Pulci):**

Whoa... Old fanfic is old... So, I dug this up as a comparison to my current fanfics, the good ones. Ah~ It brings back memories. This was the very first story I ever finished, in Feburary of 2012. remember when Fruits Basket was like Hetalia is now.


End file.
